The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘White King’. ‘White King’ represents a new Bigleaf Hydrangea, a deciduous shrub grown for landscape use and for use as a potted plant in the lightly shaded landscape.
‘White King’ was derived from an ongoing controlled breeding program of the Inventor that focuses on obtaining new varieties of Hydrangea for landscape and container use. ‘White King’ derived from an open pollination of proprietary Hydrangea macrophylla selection No. H3-11 (not patented) made in June of 1998 in Shizuoka, Japan. ‘White King’ was selected as a single unique plant amongst the progeny in June of 1999.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings in Shizuoka, Japan in February of 2007 by the Inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.